ULTIME NEWS

CONTINENT FOR PEDOPHILE WEBSITES. DEEP WEB MORE DANGEROUS THAN EVER, VIOLENCE ON BABIES AND CHILDREN EXPLODES. FR FORTUNATO DI NOTO: "PEDOPHILIA IS TRYING TO HIDE ITSELF ON THE DARK SIDE OF THE NET, BUT PEDOFILES WANT TO BE NORMALIZED. DO WE AGREE PEDOPHILIA IS A CRIME?”

Avola (SR) - In 2016 the world of pedophilia and child pornography has continued to flourish. Violence have become more refined and the exchange methods of videos and photos has become "just in time" thanks to the endless (and dangerous) the possibility of deep web, the dark side of the Net. Millions of images (we counted almost 2 millions, to be precise 1,946,898 compared to the about 1 million counted in 2015) and tons of gigabytes continue to show pain and screams of children from a few days up to 12 years old raped and sold countless times by abusers who do not care to hide their faces, not fearful of being prosecuted by the courts of some country. This phenomenon, being global, requires an active and immediate cooperation between police around the world. We hope that the reports, certain and documented, forwarded by Meter, especially through the form present on the corporate websites of foreign Postal Police, can be immediately evaluated.

Fr. Fortunato Di Noto’s Meter Charity 2016 Report makes a trustable sketch of this dramatic reality. The Report has been presented to the press this mornin at National Headquarters of the Chariti in Avola (Siracusa province, Sicily) by Fr Di Noto and the Meter staff. The fight or prevention against pedophilia is a subject which unfortunately does not leave room for improvements and should prompt greater public attention (and consequent pressure by the public opinion on Governments) in order to adopt serious measures to hunt down the Network orcs. They are virtual orcs with real violence.

A SHAMEFUL PICTURE - In 2016, the pedophilia and pedopornography market did not stop. The URLs (web address monitored and reported) are 9,379, a slight decrease compared to the 9,872 of 2015. The Italian references in the deep web are increased: 95 against 70. The decline of the reports does not imply a victory against pedophilia, but its camouflage. Pedophiles have left the social network (155 reports between Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and so on against the 3,414 we reported in 2015), but they chose the most sophisticated ways to hide. We have identified, namely counted one by one, 1,946,898 photos, an increase compared to 1,180,909 in 2015. The videos recorded exploded. We counted 76,200 in 2015, now they are 203,047.

REPORTS, OCEANIA #1 - If you look at the data, the nations that we have considered in 2016 have been 42 (43 in 2015). Pedophiles chose to hide themselves and their rich market (pedophilia and pedopornography didn’t suffer the present financial crisis or economic recession) using the Deep Web, hidden face of the Net. In particular, we recorded the explosion of Tonga (4,156 reports to the Italian Postal Police), followed by Russia (635) and New Zealand (312): this is the podium of shame. Tonga archipelago, which contains a population of about 100,000 people, is the country who scored most of the reports. In 2015 Tonga had 504 reports: now reports account eight times more. Monitored chats doubled: 124 this year against 56 in 2015. From 2003 to 2016 Meter reported 134,744 sites.

THE PODIUM OF SHAME IN THE WORLD – If the look at the domains, in Europe, Russia, Slovakia and the European Union win this infamous competition (635, 111 and 66 reports); Italy stops at 15. For the Americas: Colombia, Greenland, Canada (22, 16, 4 reports); Asia: India, Iran, Japan (56, 16, 5 reports); Africa: Libya, Gabon, Mauritius (167, 43, 32 reports); Oceania: Tonga, New Zealand, Palau (4,156, 312, 62 reports). If we consider an hypotetical podium of the continents, Oceania ranks #1 (4,613), followed by Europe (868) and Africa (259). A question we ask ourselves: do the service providers used by child pornographers bear responsibilities, at least in front of the law?

VICTIMS ARE YOUNGER THAN IN THE PAST - We must point out that the cildren abused are getting younger. The victims from 0 to 3 years are soaring and violence is complete and total. Infants account for a very high percentage: there is an online portal with pictures and videos of abused babies only that offers a multilingual chatroom (also for Italians). Let the data speak for ourselves: in 0-3 years old victims range photos are 9,909, videos account for 2,928 files; 4-13 years old victims we reported 1,936,989 photos, 200,119 videos.

A JUST IN TIME MARKET - The big news in 2016 is that pedophiles have learned to leave fewer traces than in the past. This is possible thanks to services like Dropfile, which allows for the temporary swap file. Pedophiles share a virtual chat and decide to make pictures and videos available for a limited lapse of time (maximuni 24 hours). Then all the stuff is deleted, leaving no traces. In this way the "window" within which the authorities can intervene, shrinks.

SLAVES OF LIFETIME ABUSES - The portraits we report are of children used as slaves of a past and a present abuse Abuse. Very often we find the so-called repeated material, pictures or videos shot years ago which continue to be traded: but we also find fresh shots of babies became children which continue to be abused by the same pedophile. Therefore, as Meter Charity repeatedly reported and argue, there must be a criminal conspiracy which exploits babies and children, sold, used and abused during a lifetime span.

LESS SOCIAL NETWORKS, MORE CLOUD COMPUTING – Reports about social networks have been 3,414 in 2015, now only 30. Pedophiles now like cloud computing services, paritcularly iCloud, the popular service offered by Apple. Total reports are 314 against 80 (2015 Report edition). Has emergency ceased? No: it's just a sign of the surfacing of Deep Web. The podium of the reports in 2015 saw Bitly, Vkontakte and Linkbugs with 3,068, 107 and 80 references; 2016 sees Youtube, Facebook and Twitter with 73, 70 and 9 references. But this does not mean that we can celebrate: the risk now is the deep web.

THE RISK OF DEEP WEB - The main system used in the "deep web" is The Onion Router (TOR), a communication network based on the principle of autonomy of its members and the use of encryption: in this way is difficult to obtain the IP address of every user. In fact, the onion symbol indicates the layers covering this community. Even if TOR was created in order to offer greater security, it is now mostly used for illegal activities such as pedophilia.

Let us give you this case history. On November 2016, Meter reported to the Italian Postal Police a .onion address containing child pornography. This portal contained 82,046 child pornographic videos and 476,914 users downloaded this stuff. On March 10, 2017 we checked again this portal and found 109,535 videos. During four months 27,489 videos have been loaded and 685,590 users downloaded them. This reveals that in just over four months, the TOR system allowed a sudden and uncontrolled exchange of files. Without a doubt we can assume that there is a criminal conspiracy. That's why we ask a question: is pedophilia a crime?

HELP CENTER – We do not only monitor the Net and report to police. We also offer services for children and the weak people. This year our help center followed 91 cases and provided 1,157 phone consultations. It's a real explosion of phone calls: we also received them from Belgium, America and Switzerland. If we take a look to Italy, we got phone calls particularly from Sicily, Lazio, Lombardy (799, 83, 51 calls).

Cases followed by the centre come from Sicily, Campania, Lazio (40, 10, 9 cases). From 2002 to 2016 we have followed 1,217 cases. This year the hardships concerned specifically sexual abuse, family difficulties, forced prostitution (43, 17, 7 cases). We mainly provided psycological (60 cases) and spiritual counselling (23).

THE MULTI-PURPOSE CENTER - We want to point out that in September 2016 Meter has added a new service. It is the Centre for Childhood, Adolescence and Autism. It is a structure that is characterized by early intervention, innovation and technology. Inside the structure there is a multi-sensory room, the Snoezelen Room. It is a unique example in the Syracuse and Ragusa territory. Amply qualified personnel has allowed from September to December '16 to deliver 82 telephone consultations and follow 47 cases.

SCHOOLS - Even in 2016 Meter has done its work of raising awareness about pedohilia and sexual abuse in Italian schools. We made 36 conferences for a total of 3,087 students and 540 teachers met (total 2002-2016: 102,924). We take pride from an interesting cultural exchange started last year among students of Avola and French Montauban that have linked the Comprehensive Luigi Capuana School and the Institut Familial use of Montauban on the topic of safe Web.

THE POLICE - Meter has set up a partnership with the Italian Carabinieri, organized from spiritual assistance and the Command of the Allievi Carabinieri Legion of Rome led by Brigadier General Antonio Paparella. Among Campobasso, Rome and Iglesias we made classes about online safety and pedophile abuse in front of about 900 Carabinieri students.

ROME FILM FESTIVAL - On the red carpet at the Rome Film Festival, was presented the short movie "Coco" by Veronica Succi, director who worked with Meter in 2014 for the commercial against pedophilia. A second commercial was prepared in 2015 and offered to Pope Francis. "Coco" has an exceptional cast with Pedro Almodovar’s actress Antonia San Juan, Federico Rosati, Flavio Cavaliere, Claudio Botosso, Eva Basteiro. Coco is a spin-off from "Parvus" movie.

METER AND THE CHURCH - We met Dioceses, underscoring our closeness with the Church (202 meetings this year, 1,784 from 2002 to 2016) offering a training course for seminarians, clergy, religious and laity, which aims to raise awareness of child abuse and the practical responses that the Church could give. We met 10 dioceses in 2016 in 120 meetings.

FR DI NOTO: "DO WE AGREE THAT CHILD ABUSE IS A CRIME?” - Fr Fortunato Di Noto, Meter Charity Founder and President, states: “Do we agree that child abuse is a crime? Pedophilia is not a disease, but a crime. It 'important not to confuse pedophilia (intended as psychiatric illness) with the ability of discernment: in 99.9% of cases, pedophile behaviours are lucid and then criminally prosecuted”.

“The Italian Supreme Court, in 2003, - Fr Di Noto adds - said that pedophilia: ‘Is not a mental illness by which pedophiles can get a lighter sentence’ (judgment 11/12/2003 n° 43135). Pedophilia is a new form of slavery linked with human trafficking, abduction, slavery and the horror of the child sexual exploitation. We reaffirm the spread unabated to this current reality and tragic, favored by the indifference of many people and by the economic culture that quantifies in money all that is possible to be commercialized, globally amplified from online pornography and supported by various and numerous pro-pedophile movement, that justify such sexual deviance labelling it as a sexual orientation that society must accept socially, politically, culturally and religiously. The network of traffickers and pedophiles is now well within our own civil society”.

The Sicilian priest points out: “Meter wants to point out pedophilia is a phenomenon that exists and is very present in Italy and abroad. But we must distinguish: when we talk about child abuse, we also speak of young boys and girls aged from 13 to 17 years old. When we talk of pedophilia and child pornography we refer to cases in which the victims are aged under 12 years old.

Pedophilia exploits prepubertal children; Then there is another branch represented by infantophilia, (adults having sex with infants)”.

LET US SPEAK FRANKLY - Meter Charity is not afraid to call things by their name: do we agree that child abuse is a crime? This is the question we have been asking for decades. Because if we do not agree on this, the problem becomes more complicated. Do we agree that pedophile ideology is illegal? Because if we say that this is licit, then everything gets complicated.

Pedophilia is a larger and more dangerous reality than you may imagine. The 2016 Report shows it. Because talking about pedophilia means to prevent, uncover the silence, help the victims and, strange as it may seem, even the abusers. Let all point outtis at this without falsehood: abused children are called during growth and then, as adult, "survivors".This is a reductive term that forgets a slice of these abused babies, these abused children died immediately during the violence. We will not save all the children of the world, but we saved and healed some of them. Pedophilia is a new form of slavery, a crime that requires a comprehensive approach and a radical change in the point of view of all of us in the face of this tragedy.

If there are slaves, someone must defend and free them. Speaking of pedophilia means winning a battle we have been fighting for more than 25 years.

Our Charity cares for children and every year, since 1995, celebrates the GBV – Giornata Bambini Vittime della violenza, dello sfruttamento e dell’indifferenza (Children Victims od Abuse, exploitation and indifference Day), celebrated from April 25th until the first Sunday of May. Meter members and friends gather on the last day of GBV in San Pietro Square, in order to attend and greet the Regina Coeli preached by the Pope.